Harem (family and women’s quarters)
E748741
The harem was the private, secluded domestic space in Ottoman and other Middle Eastern households where the family’s women, children, and sometimes female servants lived, separate from the male public areas.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Zenana (women’s quarters) | 1 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
domestic space
ⓘ
gender-segregated space ⓘ social institution ⓘ |
| accessibleTo |
eunuchs in elite households
ⓘ
household women ⓘ young children ⓘ |
| accessRestrictedTo |
adult male outsiders
ⓘ
unrelated men ⓘ |
| actuallyFunctionedAs |
family living space
ⓘ
site of childrearing ⓘ site of domestic labor ⓘ |
| architecturalFeature | separate quarters within a house or palace ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
honor culture
ⓘ
patriarchal family structure ⓘ purdah (female seclusion) ⓘ |
| contrastsWith | selamlik (male guest and public area) in Ottoman houses ⓘ |
| culturallyLinkedTo | Islamic legal and moral norms on modesty ⓘ |
| declinedInImportanceDuring | late 19th century modernization reforms ⓘ |
| etymologyFrom | Arabic ḥarīm ⓘ |
| etymologyRelatedTo | Arabic ḥarām (forbidden, sacred) ⓘ |
| hasFunction |
protection of family privacy
ⓘ
seclusion of women ⓘ upholding gender segregation ⓘ |
| historicallyDocumentedIn |
European Orientalist literature
ⓘ
Ottoman court records ⓘ travelers’ accounts ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
class status of the household
ⓘ
urban versus rural setting ⓘ |
| inhabitedBy |
children
ⓘ
concubines ⓘ female relatives ⓘ female servants ⓘ wives ⓘ |
| locatedIn | private part of the household ⓘ |
| misrepresentedAs | primarily erotic space in Western imagination ⓘ |
| misrepresentedIn | Western Orientalist art ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
women’s quarters in traditional Persian houses
ⓘ
zanana in South Asian Muslim households ⓘ |
| separatesFrom | male public areas of the house ⓘ |
| subjectOf |
Middle Eastern social history research
ⓘ
gender studies scholarship ⓘ |
| timePeriod |
early modern Ottoman period
ⓘ
pre-modern era ⓘ |
| usedIn |
Islamic societies
ⓘ
Middle Eastern households ⓘ Ottoman Empire NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| variedAcross |
different Middle Eastern regions
ⓘ
social classes ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.